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Merkel: Konya can’t be made into a political negotiation point

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke about the German MPs visit to German soldiers in the military base in Konya being cancelled by Erdoğan’s orders and said: “The permit to visit Konya can’t be made into a political negotiation point.”

Last May, the aircrafts were given NATO flags so German MPs can visit the German soldiers stationed at the AWACS aircrafts in the military base in Konya without previous permits from the Turkish government. But the Turkish state disregarded the NATO mission and cancelled the German MPs’ visit scheduled for next Monday.

German politicians then started to demand Merkel’s government pull back the troops from Konya like they were withdrawn from Incirlik. Chancellor Angela Merkel answered some questions on the subject in her summer interview with the German state television ARD.

Merkel said talks will continue to have visitation permits for the German soldiers in Konya and said the crises with the Turkish government are “unpleasant”. Merkel also said they received no demands regarding the asylum seekers in Germany and continued:

“The matter of the asylum seekers has nothing to do with the permit to visit. Asylum claims are assessed by courts. If this is turned into a political negotiation point, we will openly refuse that demand. The right to visit must be ensured with no side demands.”

Some MPs from the government’s side are insistently objecting to the withdrawal of troops from Konya. Henning Otte from Merkel’s CDU says withdrawing German troops from Konya will be a dangerous move. According to Otte, who is the defense spokesperson of the Christian union parties (CDU/CSU), withdrawing will endanger the NATO mission.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had visited Hamburg last week for the G20 Summit and was prevented from holding rallies with his supporters in Germany by the Merkel government. Later, July 15 events by AKP’s ministers were not permitted. Ankara cancelling the Konya visit is seen as the Erdoğan regime’s revenge.

But the AWACS aircrafts in the Konya base do not belong to the German army, they carry the NATO flag, just the 10 to 20 German soldiers are stationed to work with them. The AWACS themselves are registered at the NATO base in Geilenkirchen, Germany.

The AWACS in Konya are part of NATO’s mission to protect the region. These aircrafts can detect current aircrafts up to a 400 kilometer range, making them the most important defense mechanism for NATO.